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This news item made my stomach turn: Cassandra Hernandez, a female Air Force airman was raped, reported her attack and then subsequently became a court-martial defendant, herself.
The story goes down like this: Hernandez was at a party, where she was drinking. She says that three male airman raped her. She went to the hospital and filed a report accusing her attackers. Due to stress and harsh interrogation tactics by the Air Force, she eventually refused to testify against the airmen.
The Air Force then charged her with underage drinking (of which she admits to being guilty, but that’s hardly the point, now is it?) and, along with her three attackers, “indecent acts.” I had a hell of a lot of trouble finding an official definition for “indecent acts,” and the best one I came up with is a “form of immorality relating to sexual impurity which is not only grossly vulgar, obscene, and repugnant to common propriety, but tends to excite lust and deprave the morals with respect to sexual relations.” Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but the basic translation seems to be “a sexual act, particularly one that is not generally accepted in society, such as sex with multiple partners.”
So. The woman was raped. By three men. She reported her rape. She was harassed by her superiors, to the point where she became too afraid to testify. The Air Force took this as meaning that the sex was therefore consensual (which isn’t what it means at all), and charged her in the case of her own rape. If she loses her case, she could be publicly registered as a sex offender.
Sounds like it couldn’t get any worse, right? But it does. How? The three alleged attackers were offered sexual assault immunity to testify against Hernandez on the indecent acts charge. Having at least half a brain cell among them, they accepted.
Hernandez is writing to her congresspeople and her Governor, Rick Perry, in a desperate plea to end this madness. Once you finish throwing up, crying, breaking things, etc., I strongly suggest that you write, too.IMPORTANT CORRECTION: Apparently, the correct action to take is to write directly to YOUR congresspersons. You can find the information to write to your Representative here, and the information to write to your Senators here. It is a good idea to include one of the links to articles about the case, so that they know specifically what you are referring to.

A federal judge ruled against the Obama administration’s current system of family detention late Friday, saying that it violated minimum requirements forconditions for children held in federal immigration custody, particularly provisions requiring that minors be placed in nonsecure facilities run by agencies licensed for child care.

That secure private prison complexes are inherently unable to be child-appropriate settings should really come as a surprise to no one.

The long overdue decision affirms what Cristina Parker at Grassroots Leadership points out thousands of immigration advocates across the country have been saying for over a year now: that existing federal requirements regarding the treatment of unaccompanied minorsapprehended at the border (which require such basic protections as a policy favoring quick release, proper physical care and maintenance, and legal services) also protect children caught with their parents. ...

A federal judge ruled against the Obama administration’s current system of family detention late Friday, saying that it violated minimum requirements forconditions for children held in federal immigration custody, particularly provisions requiring that minors be placed in nonsecure facilities ...

These days everyone is talking about how colleges and universities can cut down on rape on their campuses. But likely the single most important way to end violence on campus is to start talking about it long before — in middle and high school.

Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) and Alma Adams (D-N.C.) have introduced the Teach Safe Relationships Act, which amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and would require schools to teach students about safe relationships as part of sex education.

These days everyone is talking about how colleges and universities can cut down on rape on their campuses. But likely the single most important way to end violence on campus is to start talking about it long ...

The first rule of domestic violence in China is don’t talk about domestic violence in China. Victims face “fear and shame” when they speak out within”a culture that denies there is a problem,” as Kim Lee, an American advocate who was married to an abusive Chinese partner, told the New York Times. Abusers are almost never held to account. Confucian patriarchal norms blame women for domestic discords, inadequate law enforcement has little understanding of abusive relationship dynamics, and the public is largely apathetic. Though pending legislative changes may better situation, China is to date an ideal place for domestic ...

Ed. note: This post was originally published on the Community site.

*Trigger warning: domestic violence and sexual assault*

The first rule of domestic violence in China is don’t talk about domestic violence in China. Victims face “fear and ...